Local elections 2023: Greens want housing firms to fund more services

The Green Party is calling for property developers to provide more funding towards local services, as it launches its local election campaign.

Co-leader Adrian Ramsay said too many areas, particularly rural ones, had been left without proper infrastructure when large estates are built.

Property firms, he added, had been allowed to "chase the biggest profits and ignore local needs".

The party also wants tighter planning rules on the location of new housing.

The local elections, to be held on Thursday 4 May, will see 230 local authorities in England choose some or all of their councillors.

They will be the largest set of polls before the next general election, expected to be held next year.

The Green Party of England and Wales will put housing centre-stage at an event in Suffolk to officially launch its campaign later.

The party currently has roughly 540 councillors in England and Wales, around 200 of them won in 2019, when most of the seats were last contested. It says it will be defending 281 seats at this year's polls.

The party has run councils before, but it is hoping to win outright control of its first major council at the ballot box this time around.

It says planning rules, administered by local councils, should be changed to promote the renovation of existing buildings, in a bid to reduce the environmental impact of new construction.

The party also says new developments should be designed to reduce the use of cars, including by building near train stations or frequent bus services.

Under its plans for stricter energy efficiency rules, developers would be required to install solar panels and heat pumps in new build homes.

In comments briefed to journalists ahead of the launch, Mr Ramsay said "too many villages and towns" had seen large developments built without new facilities such as GP surgeries, bus services, cycle lanes and schools.

"Developers are being allowed to ride roughshod over the needs of communities and the environment and this has got to stop," he added.

The Greens say they would make infrastructure requirements in local development plans more strict, arguing national guidance gives too much leeway to housing firms.

Under current rules in England, councils can make housing developers contribute towards local infrastructure through a fixed charge levied on the floorspace of new properties.

Contributions towards new facilities, as well as new affordable housing, can also be made through deals negotiated with individual local authorities during the planning process.

The government is consulting on replacing these schemes with a new tax linked to the price of new properties when they are sold, to be rolled out in stages over several years.